To Love a Dream
by Prunella
Summary: And yet, loving him would be like loving a dream: deliriously wonderful, yet despairingly unreal. [SasuSaku]


It was a sunny day; one that would brighten the mood of anyone that was outside. The sky was a pure, indescribable shade of beautiful blue, and white, fluffy cotton balls of clouds were floating up high, with the sun shining gently down at the Konoha village.

And such was a day that Sakura found herself standing next to a patient in the hospital, healing the numerous gashes on his arm.

"Sakura-san," Another medical-nin came up behind and tapped Sakura on the shoulder. "You have a break now; your shift starts again in 30 minutes."

"Ah, hai." Sakura stopped and traded places with the other medic. "Arigato."

Sakura exited the room, walked down through the corridors, and emerged outside. She breathed in the crisp morning air and exhaled slowly.

Her gown-like uniform flapped gently against her knees, due to a light breeze ruffling through the air.

Sakura was eighteen now; many years had passed since she was still a genin. She was now a skilled medical-nin working in the hospital under the Gondaime's orders. Although Sakura's days were busy and filled with bizarre incidents here and there (the Gondaime's gambling skills had actually gotten worse and outrageously…odd.), she felt…alone. Sure, Naruto and them had popped by frequently, but they were always with their…special person.

Sakura sighed. She was the only one that was alone, it seemed like. Her cheery disposition had helped her in many difficult times, but it had failed now.

For example, Ino had gotten over her "schoolgirl crush" (as Ino called it) and ended up with Shikamaru. They made a good couple, Sakura mused. Ino seemed to be the only one who could get "that lazy idiot up and about."

And Tenten had finally succeeded in melting the ice cube part of Neji. They were a good pair too; Sakura had often treated one or the other's wounds after missions, and the other not-so-injured one was always there.

Then there was Kiba. He had somehow gotten himself a girlfriend, too.

Naruto and Hinata had become a couple also. Sakura wasn't quite sure how Naruto got over his obliviousness to Hinata's feelings, but they just ended up together. Of course, Neji wasn't too happy about his cousin's moronic boyfriend, but Tenten eventually was able to talk some sense into him.

And yes, there were exceptions, such as Lee and Shino. But it seemed to Sakura that the two were doing well, nonetheless.

Sakura had always been quite a social person; she never did well with loneliness.

She sighed again.

_Sasuke…_

Sure, Sakura had tried to move on. She went out with lots of other guys, but there just wasn't any…_connection. _Her feelings for…_him_…just hadn't changed. _Somehow_, she just wasn't able to forget.

Of course, Sakura had also pondered that if she was able to get him out of her head, maybe he was meant to stay there.

But if Sasuke wasn't meant to be forgotten, Sakura still highly doubted that _he_ would remember _her_.

A light breeze rippled through the air, blowing at Sakura's now-middle-length pink hair. She blinked her large green eyes a few times; aware of the tears that were forming. Sakura then turned towards the road.

_Ramen helps treat loneliness. _

Sakura looked towards the sky just as a flock of birds flew across the trees. She heaved another delicate sigh, and then clasped her fingers behind her back.

A sad, gentle expression took over her features, as well as a tiny, heart-felt smile.

Many times she had hoped that she would wake up one morning, discovering that nothing had changed; Naruto and Sasuke arguing, Kakashi-sensei still utterly absorbed in his porn, Sasuke calling Naruto stupid, idiotic, moronic, and Naruto ranting about something else, like the wonders of ramen.

_Sasuke…I love you. So much._

Sakura raised her eyes to the birds again.

_But then…I might as well love a dream, ne?_

**Author's Note: Wow, my first Naruto fic. I seriously hope you guys enjoyed it, despite some errors. I hope my ending was okay. I like happy endings, but I'm not really fond of this pair, so I decided to make this fic sad. It's really not like me to end things like this, but I guess I just wanted to try something new. Anyways, thank you to all readers; I hope you liked this; and please review.**


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